Last week, I came home and found that my cat Simon wasn't using his RF paw. He was favoring it as if he injured it. I checked for cuts or sprains/pain, but there were none. It was in the evening that I found him, so I decided to see how he was doing in the morning. By morning, he was starting to use it, and by yesterday he had full use of it again.

I went out and ran some errands yesterday; I was gone for maybe 4 hours or so. I came home and found that he was dragging both of his back legs and wasn't able to walk. I took him to the vet. Since he just had a blood panel done (and he was in near perfect health) we decided not to do another one. As it turns out, he's got cardiac disease and blood clots passing throughout his body. I had to look it up to remember what she called it exactly: Aortic thromboembolism and therefore saddle thrombi. The second page of this article talks about it: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cardiovascular/c_ct_aortic_thromboembolism?page=2#.UOMHp288CSo.

Here's a good image of what the troubled arteries look like through the body:

The vet and I decided that putting him through a bunch of tests/x-rays/radiographs/ultrasounds may not be worth it. They would only acknowledge what is the obvious problem. (She was really good at explaining it so that I understood what his options were.) It's not even about the money. It was surprisingly cheaper than I thought it would be. All of those tests would ultimately be pointless and it would put Simon through things he doesn't need to go through.

She said it was okay to take him home, but warned me that if if the clot completely cuts off bloody supply to his back legs, the pain is so immense that the only way they can stop it is with anesthesia. There is no treatment to help with that kind of pain. So we're going to try some aspirin to see if we can break down the clots a little. I gave him his first dose last night. His next one is on Thursday.

Overnight he did not move, so this morning I moved him in front of the heater (his favorite spot). I gave him some wet food and he ate all of it (wet food is a treat in our house). If he doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'll have to make my decision. I don't want him to end up with a complete clot and have to endure that uncontrollable immense pain even for a minute.

I am not ready for this. I don't know exactly how old he is, but I've had him for 9 years and he was already roughly 2-3 years old when I trapped him. He's also FIV+ but has always been healthy. The vet said that FIV has nothing to do with what's going on.

I'm just so surprised at how suddenly this happened. Reading more stories about it online, it turns out that I have the same story as many others. It appears that some folks put their cats through all of the things that might help, but ultimately clots reappear and the cat will have to be euthanized.

Please keep Simon and I in your thoughts.

_________________Sentients Radio - Find Sentients in iTunes, too!I like cats and elephants.

_________________Did you notice the slight feeling of panic at the words "Chicken Basin Street"? Like someone was walking over your grave? Try not to remember. We must never remember. - mumblesIs this about devilberries and nazifruit again? - footface

guys! I was feeding the cats this morning and preparing Simon's wet food when I turned around and saw Simon standing there! It's quite a walk from the bedroom (where he's been hanging out the last few days) to the kitchen, so this was quite a feat (feet). I am quite pleased with this turn of events. Of course, there was wet food involved, so as Lindsey put it, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Simon was scheduled for euthanasia tomorrow, so this is kind of a big deal for us.

_________________Sentients Radio - Find Sentients in iTunes, too!I like cats and elephants.

OK, so I realize I'm reading this a week and a half after you originally posted. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to hear that he's better!!!

I have a cat named Simon, too. But I think your story would have pulled at my heart whatever his name would be.

I'm so so so so so very happy for you and for Simon. :-)

_________________Yay, and verily he said unto them, "Eat this nooch for it tastes kind of like cheese, and drink this kombucha for it is awesome. And don't be a vegan hating douche because no one likes an asshat." - DancesWithTofu